The Red Coral Pendant
by kaahiescheck
Summary: The story of how Percy got the coral and gave it to Annabeth a few days after they started dating at the end of The Last Olympian.
**Set after The Last Olympian, obvi.**

* * *

I was thinking.

I mean, I had had a nightmare, so I had woken up way before breakfast time and hadn't been able to go to sleep again. The sun was probably starting to appear in the horizon, because my cabin wasn't pitch black anymore. I was still in my bed, very much awake and very much bored, staring at the ceiling and thinking.

At first, I had thought of happy things to get my mind off the nightmare. Ever since the Titan War had ended, my dreams hadn't been as bad, and I had mastered the art of diverting my attention to the good things that had happened. Even Tyson snoring in the other bed didn't bother me.

But, as usual when I was going to my happy place, my thoughts went to Annabeth and my heart jumped. It had been five days since we'd gotten together. It was still foreign to me, actually having a girlfriend. _Not_ meaning that I didn't like it, of course – I didn't need to make myself stop staring at her, I had an excuse to always want to spend time with her, I could touch her and kiss her and she wouldn't kick my ass for it. Better yet, she _wanted_ me to. It still felt as surreal as surviving the war.

In a way, things didn't change much. We had been best friends before and spent quite a lot of time together anyway. She would still hit me when I did something stupid, only now she would kiss me after, which always caught me off guard. We would hang out by the lake, only now I could put an arm around her and trace the soft skin of her arm. It was very much like before, but much better.

I was remembering how nice it was to play with her curls when there was a knock on the door followed by the sound of hooves. I sighed. I knew it was Blackjack coming to get me for another underwater rescue missing. Seahorses still had a lot of problems.

I had to free a few seaweed blennies from a coral reef – cute little guys, actually, about 3.3 inches long and most of the time brownish, but they could change color to camouflage, which was really cool, but really hard when I was trying to find them (no matter how much I talked to them, they were very frightened). They were usually very skilled among the corals and were a bit embarrassed to have gotten stuck.

They thanked me profusely, as well as the seahorses, and went back to their normal activities. I took a look around the corals and noticed I was very near my father's palace. This was actually part of the garden. It was a breath-taking reef. Not like they don't all are, but this one was particularly beautiful. Sure, a part of it was missing due to the underwater war that had been going on for the past year – still, it was amazing, and was being regrown.

I swam over it, watching as the plants started to reflect the sun, which was slowly filtering through the water. I passed a mermaid, who was carefully rearranging some red corals to make a gradient to orange and yellow. She was working frenetically, swimming far from it to see how it looked from a distance, and then going back to adjust something.

"Hey, it looks really good," I told her when I got close enough.

She jumped a bit, probably unaware of my getting close, and turned her blue eyes, which matched her tail, to me. "Thank you, sir. It is most appreciated. But your father thrives for perfection, and so do I." And she went back to her frenetic pace.

"Are you the keeper of the gardens?"

"Of this portion, yes," she swam far away and then back again.

"I'm sorry it got destroyed during the war."

She paused her movements and held her breath. For a moment, she didn't move, and then she stroked a coral. "It is sad. But at least I get to try something new this time."

I got closer to the red coral she was handling and took a good look at it. It stuck out like a tree, bright red with a couple of white dots. I reached out to touch it, but the moment my fingers got close to it, I heard a squeak next to me and froze, taking back my hand.

The mermaid blushed and covered her mouth. "I am so sorry, sir. Of course you can touch it."

Then I realized something. "Oh, no, _I'm_ sorry. You're rearranging them and I was going to go around messing with your work."

"It is really fine. Absolutely. It is your father's garden, you can touch anything you wish, sir."

The mermaid had retreated on herself, swam a couple of inches away from me and thrown her arms around her middle. Her fingers gripped her arms very tightly, and her tail had stopped moving as much. She had lowered her eyes to the plants. I could sense the water around her forming small waves outwards, which meant she was shaking. It took me a moment to realize she was scared she had offended me.

I got closer to her, with a hand outstretched. "Hey, no, it's really okay." But she retreated just as quickly.

"Lord Poseidon would be most displeased with me. Please, the reef is yours."

"Not really." I was going to continue and tell her that it was actually _hers_ , but she interrupted me.

"I am sorry for stopping you. I hope you forgive me, sir."

"There's nothing to forgive, you didn't do anything wrong." She tried to swim away, but I caught up to her. "What's your name?"

Her eyes widened. "No, please, sir. Lord Poseidon will be most displeased. I will be fired."

"I'm not… Hey!" She had tried going away again, but stopped this time, although she didn't turn around. "You didn't offend me. Seriously. I won't hurt you or anything. I just wanna know your name to congratulate you on this coral reef. It's the most beautiful one I've ever seen."

Slowly, the mermaid turned around. She had long, black hair that floated around her head, but somehow it was still curly. It gently moved with the waves, making her curls turn and twist, but never get so knotted it lost its beauty. It reminded me of Annabeth's hair.

Then I had an idea.

"I am glad the garden pleases you, sir," the mermaid was saying. "If you should have any ideas for the corals…"

"Oh, gods, no, I'm terrible at that," I said sincerely, because I'm actually quite horrible at design. "Your work is amazing, really. But there is something you can do for me."

She got a bit closer, hands clasped together and eyes widened in anticipation. "Anything, sir."

Truthfully, I didn't like it very much when all sea creatures called me "sir" and stuff. It made me feel uncomfortable. Once a shoal of fish had stopped their course to bow down to me, and I had been so embarrassed I wanted to hide myself. I wanted to tell them that they really, _really_ didn't have to treat me like that. However, as I had learned from Blackjack and a lot of seahorses, they wouldn't bulge. Arguing was useless. So I had learned to block my embarrassment and just go on with the conversation.

The mermaid was still looking expectantly at me, willing to do most anything, and the attention was a bit much. I cleared my throat and pointed to the red coral. "I was wondering if you can make a pendant out of one of the corals."

I had barely finished speaking before she was swimming back to the plants, looking over them. "Of course, sir! Do you have a preference? Would you like to browse other colors? Other plants? We have this truly magnificent –"

"The coral is okay, really. You don't have to bother."

She waved her hand. "It is no bother, sir. Come, choose."

I looked over the little white-dotted, red trees at the bottom of the ocean, trying to find one that caught my attention. One finally did – if you ask me, I couldn't pinpoint exactly why it felt special. Maybe the light was hitting it really well. Maybe the shape reminded me something. I'm not sure, but I knew I had picked one.

The mermaid was quick to take it and somehow drive a hole in one of the edges. I could sense she was slightly displeased about ruining the symmetry or something, and I felt bad for a moment, but then she presented it to me with a flourish and a proud smile, and I couldn't help but smile right back at her. It was perfect.

"Thank you," I said when I closed my hand around it.

"If you do not mind me asking, sir, is it for someone special?"

I felt my smile widening. "Very."

She seemed to relax at that, and her face turned affectious. Then she turned back to her plants and restarted her work. I took it as my cue to leave. Only when I broke the surface and was back on Blackjack's back that I realized I never did get her name.

* * *

I didn't want to wake up Annabeth so early, neither did I want to have to deal with her siblings' looks at me showing up at that hour, so I went back to my cabin until it was time for breakfast. The meal went off normally. I caught Annabeth's eyes at one point and winked at her. The smile I got back made my bacon taste a hundred times better, which was saying something.

When we were finished, I went to Annabeth and lightly touched her arm. I hadn't noticed she was walking with one of her sisters, who was talking to her, and I felt a bit bad for interrupting their conversation.

"I can let you in on Harry's plan for Capture the Flag later," the girl, who I was pretty sure was called Linda, said to Annabeth and then turned to me. "Hello, Percy." I reciprocated her wave as she left us alone, walking back to her cabin.

"So," I started, taking Annabeth's hand and diverting our course to the beach. "I was thinking you could join me for a walk on this fine morning."

"Well, good morning to you, too," she smiled. "I would love to."

On the way, I told her about the seaweed bennies I had to save in the early morning. She was always amused by my underwater stories. She teased me, saying I should just make it my official job, the Do-It-All of the sea – saving creatures, fixing things, and all that stuff.

"You could have a call or something, like Batman, but under the sea. So like Aquaman."

"Very funny."

 _She_ seemed to find it very funny, and let go of my hand when we reached the sand, taking off her sandals and running to the water. I watched her go with a smile on my face. Her golden hair hadn't been tied up yet and it flew everywhere because of the breeze. When she reached the ocean, Annabeth turned to me raising her eyebrow, as if saying _Aren't you gonna join me, Seaweed Brain?_ No need to ask me twice.

We stood so the water hit our knees. I brushed Annabeth's hair from her face so I could see her properly, and her smile was still there. It was absolutely amazing to see her smiling so much, and at _me_. During the past couple of years, she had been more stressed than anything, with the war coming up, and I had cherished every single time she'd smiled. Now it was an everyday occurrence, and I couldn't be happier.

Annabeth brushed the hair out of my eyes as well, and that's when I noticed I was still cupping her face, holding her blond locks behind her ears and against the sides of her head. She was beautiful. I felt the urge to kiss her, and, with a grin, I realized I could, so I did.

She tasted like the omelet she had had for breakfast.

I withdrew slowly, and Annabeth let out a happy sigh. I felt her smiling against my lips.

"What?" I asked.

But she shook her head and didn't answer, simply resting her forehead against mine. In the end, I had gotten taller than her. It wasn't much, really, about two or three inches at most. But in a way it was good, because neither of us had to strain to reach each other, and leaning our foreheads was a very comfortable position.

"I got you something," I whispered. When Annabeth turned her gray eyes to me curiously, I got nervous. I didn't know what I'd do if she didn't like it.

I took a deep breath, though, and slipped my hands from her face, taking the coral pendant from my pocket. I kept it hidden inside my fist for a moment, thinking about how I could explain this to her without possibly making it sound bad, because, knowing myself, there was a great chance I would screw it up.

"When I was down there this morning," I started, "saving the fish from the coral and whatnot, I thought it was really beautiful, you know? The coral, I mean, not the fish stuck. And I thought, maybe…"

"Yes?" Annabeth said, beginning to smile. I could tell she knew exactly what I had done, and apparently she liked it. That gave me the confidence to keep going.

"That maybe you would wear one for me," I opened my palm and presented the pendant to her. "Along with your camp beads and your father's ring."

Despite the fact that Annabeth had seemed to know exactly what I had been up to – as usual –, she was no less surprised and moved by the red piece of coral. She covered her mouth with her hands, muffing her _Oh, Percy_ , and stared between the present and my face for a couple of moments before taking it from me to analyze it more closely.

"It's so beautiful," she gasped.

"From my father's palace."

Annabeth's eyes met mine again, and she threw her arms around my neck to kiss me. My hands flew to her waist to try to steady myself and not fall, which probably only worked because I was in the ocean. Her hair tickled my nose and cheeks from the wind, and it brought that lemon soap smell to my nostrils. I hugged her closer to me and tilted my head slightly, deepening the kiss. She had liked it. I could fight off an army of monsters without complaining right now.

When Annabeth pulled away, she immediately untied her camp necklace and took off a couple of beads. She then put the coral through it and put the beads back, so both her father's ring and my coral were in center. When she moved to tie it back around her neck, I stopped her hands and did it for her.

I could swear her eyes were a bit wet, and I mentally patted myself in the back for managing to impress her.

"Thank you," Annabeth muttered before kissing me again. She kept one hand on my hair and the other holding her necklace. I closed my palm over hers, holding it as she held the coral, and wrapped my other arm around her middle. At one point, though, I had to move that arm to keep her hair from flying in my face.

"I'm eating your hair," I complained, fighting against her locks one-handed, not wanting to release the hand around her necklace.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Gods, how did I find myself such a romantic guy?"

"Hey! I brought you a coral pendant!"

She only winked at me as she tied her hair up with an elastic band that had been on her wrist. When she was done, she made a big show of brushing all loose strands from her face and putting them behind her ear. I crossed my arms.

"I don't know why you complain about me being annoying. Did you ever have to live with yourself?"

Annabeth laughed, that kind of throw-your-head-back-and-clutch-your-stomach laugh, and I softened. Her eyes were sparkling, reflecting the blue of the sea, and her smile was still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

I knew I was probably staring with a stupid grin on my face, because Annabeth snapped her fingers in front of my nose. "Earth to Percy?"

I simply pulled her close until our chests touched. Her forearms came to rest on my shoulders. If I had the guts, I would probably tell her that I just liked to watch her, especially when she was happy and carefree, wind blowing in her face and waves lapping around her bare legs.

But the intensity of her eyes caught my breath. The little puffs of air coming from her mouth and hitting mine send my heart into a crazy speed – I was scared it would jump out. My hands trembled on her waist, so I squeezed her to hide it. I took a deep breath and ran my palms gently up her ribcage, pulling her to a kiss.

It was strange, not hiding what I felt. Letting my thoughts run free without the irrational fear of being caught thinking those things – like how the contour of her waist gave her body a gorgeous silhouette, like how her legs went on forever and how I could look at them when she wore shorts without being a _total_ perv now, like how her scent drew me closer and made me want to bury my nose in her neck, and… I think you got the picture.

I knew exactly what I was feeling. I knew the word for it. And I knew that I wouldn't mind feeling like this for her for the rest of my life, however long that might be.

"I have archery now," Annabeth murmured against my lips.

"I don't," I tried to resume the kissing. It worked for about three seconds.

Annabeth giggled and placed a hand on my chest, gently keeping me from going after her mouth. "Seaweed Brain."

"Yes?" My voice sounded soft even to my own ears.

It felt like she was about to tell me something. Her eyes were intense on me again, not letting me divert my gaze even if I wanted to. She had a soft smile, and I probably had one too. Then she finally inhaled, ready to talk, but seemed to change what she was going to say at the last minute.

"I'll see you in combat class, okay?"

Annabeth brought my face close with the hand she still had in my hair and gave me a parting peck. She thanked me again for the pendant and started to make her way back to her sandals in the sand. I stood there watching her. She turned back to me a couple of times, and I probably still had that stupid look on my face, because she always giggled and turned away again. I felt my smile widening – maybe I didn't mind looking stupid for a good cause.


End file.
